v18: noir&blanc

sherlene

the girl's 18. stuck on a small island, also known as the little red dot on the global map. presently living a mundane life contributing to the unemployment rate and chionging driving lessons are what she does nearly daily. well, here records some of the interesting and amusing moments she enjoys. :D

turns 365 days older on the 7th of Nov and is deeply in love with the colour purple. currently indulging in SUPER JUNIOR! :D

Super Junior M - 迷 (Me)

get it in stores 2 or 9 May depending on your region!

favourites

corkboard

statistics

hooligans crashed & graffitied.

currently hooligan(s) rotting here.

extreme tracker

Donnerstag, März 6

China Part IV 11:06 PM

so to take my mind off the dreaded AHEMs out tmr, shall just try to keep myself occupied with this... haha. driving today was okay i guess. though i hate it when im at slopes cos i tend to take slightly longer to move off and then... the car rolls back. haha. and kerb side stopping is another thing! rawr. it still takes practice for me to gauge where to stop. haha. going to start S course and crank courses soon! and thanks Lena for exchanging your date with me :)

Day 6: 9 Jan 08 Wed 乌镇>上海
breakfast was really yummy! the American breakfast spread was super fulfilling... i couldnt remember the exact details but i knew i kept going for more! and then i had a bad tummy ache. haha walked back the path outdoors and into the chalet room! immersing myself in that type of atmosphere was really an experience one-of-a-kind! and luckily it wasnt too chilly so it was relaxing and comfy walking outside.

so after breakfast it was walking around the 西栅景区 and just soaking into this 古镇 feel! its really very 小桥流水~ no cars... no pollution! very exhilarating! so it was basically more exploring of the place. its like one oval shaped island... with the canals and all running through the middle. the prev night, we walked on one side of the canal, and only managed to finish the same side the next day. but sadly it was really off-peak so... it was hardly any fun without people around enjoying it with you...

then we went to this 三寸金莲馆 Museum of Bound Women's Feet. which was really interesting. cos they had collections of different types of shoes which women with bound feet in the past wore... and they kinda showed the process of binding feet... and all the types of shoes through the ages, for what occasions, different classes... it was quite gross in the sense that the shoes were REALLY tiny.. like smaller than anyone's palm! (not a toddler though) but still absolutely tiny. and it was heart-wrenching to imagine the agony any olden day women had to go through just to look demure... and according to 元师傅, his mother bound her feet. and they could never let anyone see it, even when washing their feet, they had to do it discreetly. imagine not being able to enjoy foot massage proper! ouch.

the rest of the place was ancient, very vintage... very 古老. it was cool cos you know you'd never get to experience it elsewhere, and what other best place would be then in China itself?

the only post office was really cute. hahaha. and i loved the mailbox! :)

they had this 麻将 table there. haha will surely sit until butt pain. but sadly no kaki to play with me! :(

so we went exploring, saw these fish-catching black birds, which i first watched them on 世界那么大. haha. its like they tie a string at the bird's neck so when the bird flies into the water to get the fish, it wont swallow the fish and would have to spit it out to their owners. didnt manage to see the birds in action though. so we walked around the scenic area and explored 白莲塔 and a temple... then we left before lunch so that we could head down nearing Shanghai for lunch.

went for lunch at 同仁堂药膳. which was like... very healthy and herbal authentic Chinese dishes! it was a superb tantalising lunch which got us sweeping the food off the plates! for the record we actually finished everything there for the 1st time! its like those dishes which you can only enjoy at privileged, raved Chinese restaurants.

and then... they brought us to this room for a free foot massage. HAHA. while a TCM 师傅 came to 把脉. lol. so the elders got trad. chinese medicine for themselves. which cost A BOMB man. and i was supposed to get some health supplements as well but Mum 刷爆 her credit card. thats exaggerated right. haha. the massage was really refreshing after those many days of walking. was a great reward for Mama who's like almost 80 and has been tahan-ing rough terrain...

同仁堂's well renowned in China it seems, and it was their 师傅s who actually cured PM Lee Hsien Loong of his lymphoma. and it was the help of TCM which kinda boosted and aided the recovery. thats what i heard...

after that we reached 上海 and met our LG! who had a friend working at CCTV (i suppose) and in charge of all the foreign stars! walao! so the weekend we were in 上海, there was an awards ceremony with S.H.E, Jolin etc and her friend was IC! ARGH! and she was saying Rain was supposed to come but he wanted to bring his entourage of like 20 people and they requested to stay in some 6* hotel which was out of the station's budget! damn cool right! and since she was a tour guide, her friend had asked her to help with the booking! lol.

so anyway, we were at this 宋庆龄 Memorial place, where her grave is... and we found out lots of her history as well. and there was this park so we walked around there and enjoyed the scenery.

everyone was so full of respect for her... our LG was telling us that even the trees, miraculously, showed their respect to her... its like some unusual phenomenon cos you could really notice the leaves all faced toward her statue.

after that it was a hurried trip to the 外滩 The Bund... cos it was foggy there was nothing much we could see so we just walked along... and it was starting to get cold! that weekend was not very 暖, in fact it was the weekend just right before Shanghai had their snow storms!

after that was a simple dinner and we had to rush to sit the cruise as 元师傅 had actually 'predicted' that the fog was gonna be less than the next day's. which was true la. so although we had a long day, i guess it was worth it taking the last cruise down 黄浦江! :) but before the cruise, we actually went to the 大剧院杂技秀 Acrobatics Show. which... was similar to the one we saw in 杭州. but ah well. this time, there were more daredevil stunts. below's the picture of 5 motorcycles in the metal ball! it was crazy man. though i almost fell asleep during the usual acrobatics stuff, i was wide awake during this one! i actually got the video of the 5 motors inside so... shall upload it soon. :) hahah really made our hearts skip a beat!

so then, we took the 游船 to cruise down the 黄浦江! loved the night view so so much! reminded me of the scenes in 轉角 where 心蕾 and 秦朗 got drunk! haha. and there was this cute capt on board! haha. so anw... it was all dark and slightly foggy so the pictures hardly turned out nice but this one below's my fave. kept going up to the deck though it was freaking chilly to take pretty pictures. Mum the scaredy cat kept grumbling that it was freezing her butt off so she and Mama stayed in the viewing deck only. haha. sad.

it was really late by the time the cruise ended, like... almost 11? everyone was exhausted esp our driver who drove like... super long that day. so we checked into the hotel and as usual i'd catch my daily dose of tv! haha the shows there are super entertaining la. haha. Hotel for the day: 云悦酒店 (click) which was a 5 min walking distance from 城隍庙! its huge la that hotel! was quite happy with it cos they had lcd tvs in the rooms once again! and its a new hotel which opened less than 1 yr ago as well!

xxxxx

tomorrow's results. i finally finished Day 6. left with 3 days! haha.
just wish me luck. :D
will be praying for all friends who are in the same boat as me.

Labels: happy, holiday

Mittwoch, März 5

China Part III 11:11 PM

i finally have the resources and energy to continue my China travelogue! haha okay its like 2 mths since i first stepped into Chinese ground! sigh. okay nvm i shall try to chiong everything cos there are still pictures from the last 2 days that i haven't cleared. so here goes!

Day 5: 8 Jan 08 Tues 杭州>乌镇
got up early for the normal, usual daily breakfast menu and then headed off to 西湖 West Lake for our cruise... which isnt exactly a cruise. just a boat ride la. haha. but the morning walk was exceptionally refreshing and i enjoyed myself alot breathing in the fresh air... which felt so freaking pure and clean. haha. its like, some auto purifier!

ok first picture of the day with a statue at the park beside 西湖. haha. lotsa other exchange students at the lake area! lol.

so we did more walking around before our LG (the one which i liked least) started hurrying us cos the boat was gonna leave. :S ah well. not enough time to enjoy the pretty scenery. sadly, it was still very foggy. and hence you couldnt see very far.

the boat ride was seriously super boring. cos you just toured the lake seeing practically the same thing... hills and trees. so i fell asleep 3/4 of the time. and because our very horrible guide forced us to catch a boat which was leaving and filled 4/5 of Korean tourists, i didnt understand and appreciate anything during the introduction of the lake at all. what a waste. and i was utterly disappointed that i didnt manage to get my bird-cooing whistle. it was like. RMB10 only please! and when we got to the other end they werent selling it anymore. :( sigh. so once again, albeit the many wonderful compliments and recommendations of 西湖 esp by 老师, i was kinda feeling indifferent to what i was experiencing. maybe coming during another season would be more appropriate to enjoy the surroundings.

after that, we proceeded on to this 龙井茶园 Longjing Tea Plantation to buy some very famous 龙井茶! for once i actually felt happy drinking tea! it was extremely enjoyable! haha. as in... the taste was subtle, yet refreshing and empowering. and you could actually drink it with cold water! we bought some home... but till now i dont seem to have drunk any at all. :( Mum's been dragging and saying we still have to give it to 老师. haha. sian.

the ladies there were really nice cos they were somehow... genuinely friendly. maybe cos its like this plantation is under the 梅家... where everyone there is surnamed 梅. and you HAVE to call them 姑娘 and not 小姐 cos its absolutely disrespectful to do so.

lunch was at this fishing village place... some sort like the old Pasir Ris area where you could pay to enter and catch fish. we had this 红泥砂锅 and 东坡肉 which was super fatty & oily & salty but damn delicious! the herbal chicken was really nice too! something which is found readily in SG but of a different taste!

they had these fish which were cut open and let out to dry... quite cool seeing just the skin of the fish, its guts and intestines all gone... its like some mirror image... but of the same fish. yucks at that thought. haha.

then as usual, the daily commission-earning scheme brought us to this Gem Stone Factory. which by chance and unexpected fortune, allowed us to meet the boss who's from Penang and spoke Penang Hokkien. so Mum and Mama were very happy cos they could finally converse with someone close to home and in a dialect they could handle well. as for me, i sat there stoning. haha. the guy who attended to us first was quite 溅 though. he was like, 拜托，要帮我在我老板说些好话，我才可以出国发展! after he heard that we were from SG and their Penang boss was planning to expand into SG. :S so anyway they talked for pretty long, exchanged business anecdotes and stuff. and then he brought us out to look at his jewellery. gave us some great discounts which got the staff saying, 老板！这里是不可以折扣的！是定价的！and their boss was like 没关系，他们是我新加坡来的朋友! haha. 0_0 Mum wanted to get the rubies at a great price but she felt that there was no need to... ah well. Mama got some nice necklace which was made of some white stone thing.. haha. quite cool though.

later on after leaving the Gem Stone Factory we were on our way to 乌镇 and on the way we stopped by this Chrysanthemum Factory Outlet which sold chrysanthemum tea in the buds itself. their 八宝茶 is really nice! i drink it often cos Mum says i can open only packet-packed stuff. =/

so after a very long journey of 3-4 hours... we finally reached this pretty ulu place!!! which was 乌镇. truth be told, i never heard of this place until i went there. and after i came back where i did more research... must click!!! and here too!!! its very tourism-infested. but i guess its good cos our driver 元师傅 told us that it used to be filled with slumps and murky water... but after much upgrading its become a tourist destination and one of the few remaining 水乡s (water-towns) in China. but with its 7000-years strong history, it was utterly unbelievable to even have your presence there! overwhelming man!

haha just some cute toilet signs.

the time we went was super off-peak. there was hardly other souls around! haha. and the view wasn't to our pleasing cos it was all foggy... sadly.

we had to sit a boat to the other side where the hotel and the main scenic area was. which i thought was quite cool. its like immersing yourself in a theme park!

the view was superb, but only on the 1st day. 2nd day was much more foggy though. anyhow, heard Tom Cruise filmed Mission Impossible 3 there... thats a typo there. or maybe it was 西唐 another water-town in China. haha but S.H.E's 中国话 was indeed filmed here! uber cool.

so explored a little of the area. our hotel rooms were those on the right in the picture below. it felt like we were living in shop houses of the past! i guess it gave me the strongest impression cos its so reminiscent of those olden days, like those in 豆腐街 you see on tv! super cool! the buildings were ancient as well... its like. a trip back to the past. really. and to know that its not some filming venue, or some fake place that was built to entertain tourists and those money-rich makes it even more special. :)

the night view was not too bad either. except for the fact that the fog was worse and you hardly could see 10m in front of you. but the lights illuminating the place were pretty. really gave it an amazing atmosphere.

dinner was horrid. at this small restaurant, almost like some budget meal. and the food was salty and oily though 元师傅 asked the waitress to put 少盐少油.. they treat it like 耳边风. haha. Mum wanted a shot to show the traditional dining furniture. lol!

this guy was really cool. he'd go round the whole place carrying this gong and a lantern. and he'll strike the gong at every hour. so it depends on where he is at that hour to strike the gong. quite cool but it was creepy esp at night, all dark, with so little tourists/other people around. almost like a night walk but it was... another authentic kinda feeling. haha!

and this was our small little chalet for the night. beats any chalet i've ever stayed at! its called 通安客栈... and i was so impressed by it! there's another toilet beside this room Mama slept at downstairs. just without a bath. the steps were steep however, and i had to lug my luggage up! haha.

this is the master bedroom upstairs. i love love the bed frame! pretty! and the lanterns were really soothing as well. the bathroom had a shower and bath! damn nice.